Aviva Investors has acquired Aurora, a Grade A office building in Ealing, West London, from Moorfield Real Estate Fund III, managed by Moorfield Group. The deal is the third office acquisition in Ealing by Aviva Investors, following the acquisition of Ealing Gateway in 2017 and Ealing Cross in 2014. Aurora is situated prominently on Uxbridge Road and was extensively refurbished in 2017. All three offices are set to benefit from the opening of Crossrail in 2019. Aurora consists of five floors, comprising 51,791ft² and 77 parking spaces and is currently let to Spaces (Regus) and Synchronoss. 13,419ft² of space is currently vacant. The purchase price was not disclosed.
James Lawlor, Director, UK Investment Transactions – Real Estate, Aviva Investors, said: “The transaction will facilitate the continued growth of Aviva Investors’ office cluster in Ealing. This is a key office market for us, which we believe will see continued and improving occupier demand and rental growth. The location has been subject to significant recent investment, improving its ability to attract high-quality tenants, while the opening of Crossrail in 2019 will be a major boost for the area.”
Charles Ferguson-Davie, Chief Investment Officer – Moorfield, said: “We acquired a number of assets in MREF III, including Aurora, Ealing, to take advantage of major infrastructure improvements such as Crossrail. We completed a successful refurbishment of the whole building, with our JV partner XLB, and were able to lease the majority of the building at record rents for Ealing. We will now be looking to invest in new opportunities on behalf of Moorfield Real Estate Fund IV (MREFIV) which is targeting investments in the themes of residential Build to Rent (BTR), student accommodation, logistics, mixed-use projects and further infrastructure-led opportunities.”
